Bouquet of Weeds
by Kisshulover1
Summary: "The roses that bloom so sweetly at the Bondevik estate are beautiful, yes, but sharp and full of thorns."
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the first chapter of "**Bouquet**" I hope you enjoy your read! This story was originally going to be for a story contest back in September last year, but it wasn't quite ready, that is, until now! So please, sit down in a big sofa, grab a cup of tea, and relax into this enchanted story of three loves in the darkest hour, finding their way out of a storm by the sweetness of a flowers bloom! **I do not own Hetalia, but I do own this story. **This chapters song is **Vanner Och Frander **by** Garmarna.

…

It was no surprise to anyone that the Bondevik's estate was beginning to crumble financially. Weighed down heavily by an alcoholic and frivolous Lord Christen Bondevik who spent his money on prostitutes and gambling, biding his time in opium dens laden with plush cushions and sweet smelling smoke. He was as good to the family as a cat was as good to a rat.

It was not an even bigger surprise that Lord Christen Bondevik died from such an attitude on life, and a sorrowful one at that. Found dead in a prostitution den, having died of an overdose of a tincture of liquid opium, the news of his departure caused the whole Bondevik estate to erupt into tears and chaos - oh, but not for Lord Christens Death! No, but woe onto them the heavy debt that was burdened upon his family. His only two sons and nephew, Nikolas, Emil, and Tino had had their inheritance gambled long ago they found, and barely a skilling left in Lord Christens will for them. They were in a dire situation that looked dimmer and dimmer by the hour.

Slowly collapsing with a debt not theirs, in a house too big, with standards to upkeep in the rich area that was Drammen, Norway - they had to resort to a plan to gain back the glory that they once were. To keep prying rumors from other Earls and Lords and good ladies from scandalizing them, they had to come up with a plan.

And a plan did they draw up! They were desperate, as one could imagine, and in great need of financial support and fast. So what could they do? Who could they depend upon?

Tino could barely obtain any help from his mother who was a widow and was barely herself living in comfort - they could scarcely ask the poor old women to help fend off the debt collectors! They had cousins in Germany, a shrewd but friendly lot. But Nikolas was too embarrassed to ask them for help. He would have had to sell the whole plot of land to them, and that he could just not do. So they resorted to a new tactic, a bitter one that left their mouths raw and tears falling from their face, for this was how low they had sunken.

Arranged marriages were all good and plenty - but they had been kicked so low as to entertain the thought of saying yes to the first woman who presented her hand to either Tino or Nikolas - providing she had a terribly wealthy dowry or her family came from a rich background.

They knew It was shameful, to wed only for the sake of burdening a debt onto the brides family - but what more could they do? In this terrible year of 1877, when to be rich meant you had everything, and poor nothing but dust. When the wealthy were the toast of society and the penniless beaten and thrown into insane asylums.

It was the only choice they had.

Oh, Tino was distraught about the whole thing the most - for he was already in love, with a man, and one of their gardeners no less. How scandalous indeed! He had locked himself in his room for three days and four nights, refusing to eat and even speak - letting his lovely terrace garden flowers wilt in the sun from lack of water and care.

Nikolas thought the Finn had even tried to revive the precious blooms with his tears, so distraught and stricken he was.

But Nikolas reminded the Finn that he too knew how he felt, that his heart belonged to someone else as well. To someone he could not have for fear of societies wrath.

The eldest of the Estate wished that it would not matter whom they chose to love, but they were burdened by debt and could not bare to see the estate sold to another family who they were sure would not give it the same love and care. And what of the lovely gardens? He would surely not hand over his lovely flora to a stranger! No, they must all stay in this manor to look after the lovely buds.

It was their home, all they had - and Nikolas was sure not another primrose would ever look so sweet in another plot of land that was not their own.

So it was that they wept, all three together in Nikolas' master bedroom, pressed between sheets and linens that they would soon have to sell to money collectors. They cried and cried, wishing for a better escape, a way out where their love for poppers could bloom and they could just forget this old estate that was so lovely but haunted them tremendously.

They wished they could just forget.

Yet they could do something to sweeten the predicament, make it at least a bit bearable, they decided.

So, they placed a catch onto the wedding plan, the arrangements that would soon come flooding in tucked away in creamy envelopes and wax seals, ribbons to bind them tight.

If one wished to take the hand of Nikolas or Tino - as Emil was much too young, they must only pass three inspections.

First, they must be of good intentions - not to ruin the family in debt even further, they must be able to pay the admittance fee for proposal of 16 Skilling, and they must, and this is quite important - be able to guess and present Nikolas and Tino's favorite flower should their hands they seek in marriage.

It was simple regulations. Something to invite even the littlest bit of love into the arranged marriages that was sure to present themselves. But neither of the three Bondevik's residents knew just how much of a predicament they were throwing themselves into.

For what man could ever love a stranger, even for the sake of the loveliest of flowers?

…

There once was two men, all strong and thick headed. With hair that was like spun gold, and eyes as blue as the sea in March. They were in love, in the sweetest of sense. They wrote poems on flower receipts and mumbled words into the wind, sweet nothings for their beloveds to catch and hear. They were apprentice gardeners, working under the careful hands of the owner of the nursery, _Meihua_, or, _Plum Blossom_.

They were treated kindly and fairly, in a day and age when men who were not well off were scorned and left to starve in the streets. But no, Mathias and Berwald were blessed by good fate to be cared for by the hands of their boss, Cheng Li Xuan. He never raised a hand nor cane to the men, he made sure they had lodgings attached to the shop, and he always treated them with respect when it was needed to boost up the two Scandinavians morale.

Cheng Li Xuan was the youngest child from a wealthy Asian family, and though he was often quiet and brooding like a hen in the peak of winter, he ran his shop with careful calculating intellect.

He himself, was a most respectable and educated man. With charcoal hair that was polished to a shine from the most fragrant of soaps, and the brightest teeth one had ever seen, to his most appealing clothes dyed in reds and plums and on some occasions, navy blue. He was strong witted and able in body, though he himself did not partake in the harsher labors that was demanded of running a garden nursery shop. No, he had others to do that for him.

His shop was received marvelously by the rich of Drammen. Elderly women passing by the shop always found delight in purchasing a stunted pot of orchids that were so hard to come by in the frigid weather of Norway. Men, looking for a red carnation to place in their button hole on the way to the theater, prized themselves on adorning their coats with Chen Li Xuans flowers that bloomed so fragile-like in the stores windows. The little girls and boys, looking for a beautiful gift to grace their mothers flower pots come spring, collected sunflower seeds in their palms, and with Li Xuans instruction, promised to take special care of the shoots until they bloomed ferocious and vibrant in the setting sun.

Oh yes, Li Xuan had a collection of customers that valued his every opinion, that prided themselves in planting his apple trees in their yards, and adorning their smoking rooms with his purple iris' that stayed long and fresh through the week.

His flowers were always a personal favorite of the masses.

However, one of the shop keepers best customers was the Bondevik's family. The Estate, Xuan had recently read in the paper, had now become a labor of love and hate for the family, after a cruel throw of the die had left the clan in its rubble-like ruins. The family, now only consisting of the young Nikolas and Emil Bondevik and their cousin Tino Väinämöinen, would surely see the Estate suffer heavily in their lifetime.

It was no surprise to anyone that the three of them would see to such drastic measures as to ensure their wealth, what little they had of it, to creating a ploy to become grooms.

However, as Xuan knew from his personal spying and bribery of his two best employees - the hearts of the Bondevik Estate were already claimed by others.

Berwald and Mathias had worked for Xaun and his prized store for as long as the shop-keeper could remember. They were manual labor. They took care of transporting the freshly cultivated or bought flowers in crates on mule buckboards to estates where they would plant the succulent roses, the tawny aspens, and the yellowed broom upon lawns that were drenched in dew. They worked the soil with hide covered hands and spades as sharp as cleavers, as was their main profession and delight.

Both men breathed, lived, and grew flowers with a passion.

Indeed, Xuan found that the two of them enjoyed their job, but preferred the Bondevik Estate over all others. More than likely, he professed, because of the beautiful residents that lived there. Xuan was not to be fooled by the glassy eyes of his workers, at the quickness of their breath as they were told to hitch up the mules and drive down to the railway, into the pear orchards craggily with soil, and to the sloping lawn of the Estate that was cobblestone grey and trimmed in egg-shell white.

Xuan, oh clever Xuan knew what enticed the men to comb their hair the best, to neatly press their vests in steam the night before, to wear a daisy in their buttonholes.

Xuan himself knew that Berwald and Tino had been sweet on each other for months now, perhaps even years.

The giant oaf had somehow, beyond all logic, captivated the cousin of the Estate. Whether it was by sweetened words spun by the Swede's coarse tongue, or the promise of better days for the Finn, Tino had accepted his love with open arms, and most scandalously of all, his opened bed.

Mathias was no different in his prowess for achievement, though Nikolas, the cause of the Dane's affection, was a hard heart to be won.

No amount of pleasantries, of allurement and promises could quite catch the Norwegian in the Danes arms. Nikolas was just too good, it seemed for Mathias, though the other man would hardly give up in the chase, full of vigor and pride as he was. The Norwegian would always retaliate with a prod-like tease to the Danes ego, all in good merciless fun.

Yet suddenly that all changed gradually. Nikolas and Tino would see the men less and less, no more sits by the hearth where they would share afternoon tea, no more pear and apple picking in the fall - they even stopped coming to the shop, having Emil take their errands instead with a pad of paper strewn in Nikolas' tight handwriting.

It was as if they did not want anything to do with them.

That was when, after a few weeks of absence had passed, Mathias stormed into the small outcrop shack where the two men slept conjoined to the shop.

He was fuming mad and in his mind, rightfully so.

"They are looking for brides!" He raged, throwing a newspaper into Berwald's face.

The Swede gazed with bewilderment at the ink on the thick and heavy paper as he read of the Bondevik's rumored predicament on the first page that was pronounced in bold type. Sinking lower into the hay stitched cot, he felt his heart clench and his eyes widen.

As he read on, he felt a devastating blow encroach his senses, a feeling that left him with despair.

"Well, what shall we do?" Mathias had asked, more distraught than ever at the fact of losing Nikolas whom he loved dearly to some cheeky woman or some coldhearted man.

Berwald only paused as he flickered his eyes to the paper and back to his friend, his lips pursed tight with a grimace that seemed to always come naturally to his face.

"There is only one thing we can do." He had mumbled softly, setting the paper down and squeezing his scarred fingers to his knees.

Mathias raised his honey brown brows. "And what is that?" he spat.

Berwald sighed, running his fingers threw his short cropped hair.

"Come up with 16 skilling each, and start planting."

…**.**

**So this chapter feels rushed… Does it feel rushed to you? Anyway, here is another story with another chapter. I have no clue why I am doing this to myself, I mean honestly, I have so many unfinished stories. Well. I hope you enjoyed this, more to come. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Short disclaimer is short! I do not own Hetalia nor its chacters but I do own this story, so please enjoy! **

…**.**

One early morning, like every early morning, Cheng Li Xuan woke up the sleeping men who lived in a shack adjacent from his shop. With water and ladle, a grin on his face, he doused them with the icy droplets. The men, like every early morning, got up with groans and protests for more sleep.

"Get up you lazy blond oxen, I have a promising job for you - Emil has come down from the Bondevik Estate! It seems that Lord Nikolas has now deemed the perfect time for tending the bulbs and planting the flowers in the thawed ground - they shall like to have everything lovely for the wedding engagements. Now, get up - _get up!_"

At once the men straightened themselves from their cots. With fumbling hands they eagerly dumped the offending pail of water that their boss had used to rouse them from sleep into a wash tub. Splashing water about their faces, they ran the coolness of it through their hair in an attempt for their locks to look presentable while they shaved and lathered their faces.

As they got ready for the laborious and surely terse day Cheng Li Xuan listed off all the orders of flowers that Nikolas had requested for planting, the boys running it through their head as they buttoned up their shirts and placed vests of wool over their bodies, caps tight over their head. If they ground their teeth or growled out through their lips at the paying customers of today's tasks, Cheng Li Xuan didn't choose to notice. Once the order had been read and understood, the two Scandinavian born men came round the front where they instantly saw and recognized the youngest member of the estate, Emil, chewing on a paper rolled cigarette that had been unlit, his fingers playing with the petals of a bushel of pink peonies at the front of the clerks desk.

"Li Xuan, I must have some of these - what are they?"

"Peonies from Hong Kong, Lord Emil - expensive are they." He mused, not bothering that to most his words would sound offending and scornful. Emil knew better than to be insulted by the wonderful gardeners words.

Emil sighed in silent agreement and nibbled at his lip, cigarette bobbing.

"Well, perhaps another time then - right now I must have that order filled or Nikolas shall have my head." He huffed. He pretended to brush ash off the tip of the cigarette, though they both knew it was unlit and had been for many a days, stale as it was.

"Oh, I meant to ask, how are the wedding plans looking for young Nikolas and Tino? Have they found a pair of brides to wed?"

"Ah, you are referring to the marriage proposals? The task that Nikolas has placed in the Sunday papers for his and Tino's hand?" Emil yawned, scratching the back of his paled head, a dissatisfaction lingering behind his eyes that Lu Xuan was quick to observe.

Berwald and Mathias huffed with annoyance at the clerk tables right side, distress swimming like hungry acid and bile in their gut as they tried to hear the conversation, only to be shooed out the shop by Li Xuan with the end of a broom stick.

Li Xuan, assured once again with the secluded availability of the conversation, nodded as he began to snip at some ribbon with silver clunky scissors.

"They are good - slow, but good. We have every eligible person guessing and growing flowers to please the grooms, each one desperate to come up with the fee of proposal." Li Xuan watched as Emil's teeth seemed to bite hard into the paper of the cigarette.

The black haired man behind the counter only smiled softly and thinly, before allowing a worried look to waver on his bushy browed face.

"Are you quite sure you wish for Kohler and Oxenstierna to work at the estate again? Surely you must know the rumors about those two and your family. It could ruin your name and chance of a prosperous wedding."

Emil snorted and lit his cigarette finally, striking a match at his shoe. It was a desperate maneuver and it made Li Xuan frown deeper.

"My dear friend, our family name is already ruined, no wealthy marriage could save us, that is what I believe - haven't you heard? Our father has gambled away all our money and inheritance, why, we haven't a speck of a skilling left!" He sounded far to amused for Li Xuan's taste.

"What shall you do then if Tino and Nikolas call the plans off?"

Emil took a drag from his homemade cigarette before blowing the smoke out from his lungs.

"Well, the way I see it, we have two options, my family and I. We could sell the estate to our German cousins and live in a tiny little village somewhere, or have Tino and Nikolas get married to wealthy ladies of society that they do not love! I should hate to perform the latter. " He smiled then, a laugh erupting from his throat.

Li Xuan hummed gravely.

"Why do you laugh, is this not serious?"

"You know as well as I do that Nikolas and Tino only have eyes for poor poppers who are entirely the wrong gender - at least that's what our society says." He mused.

Li Xuan only nodded and looked to the two Scandinavians who were busy carrying crates of flowers to the buck board wagon waiting patiently still behind the hitched mules.

Li Xuan knew quite well what Emil was talking about, as Nikolas and Tino's sexual orientation was secretive and ludicrous at best. But, Emil had entrusted it with Li Xuan a long time ago out of friendship - for it was the Bondevik's who gave Li Xuan's family the loan of money for their flower nursery those many years ago. He was grateful to find such friends in their family, even if they had a crushing secret that could ruin them.

"Then take the poppers and dress them as big burly women, with powder on their cheeks and red on their lips and flowers in their hands." The store owner mused.

Emil snorted a laugh once more, imagining the subjects of his families attention dressed in pearls and shawls and petty coats. He soon whisked that thought away, though, not wanting to touch that image with a four foot cane.

He decided to change the weighty subject.

"My, I get tired just watching them work." He laughed, walking outside with the last of the crates, flicking his cigarette to the floor as Li Xuan followed with a quiet yawn on his lips.

"Like Oxen they are, dumb blond oxen." He chuckled.

"Hey - these dumb blond oxen have ears you know!" Mathias barked with slight annoyance as he and Berwald lifted the last of the crates into the wagon, the mules making a fuss at the weight.

"You shall need help with these flowers beside transporting them - my apprentices, rusty from lack of work in winter, but they shall be good help with the planting?" Li Xuan suggested to Emil.

"Hmm, yes, Nikolas shall get a kick bossing them around like the good old days and Tino would be delighted to see Berwald again - what say you boys? Care to help plant these flowers and shrub?" Emil grinned solemnly.

Berwald swallowed as he climbed over to the wagons seat, Mathias riding in back to keep a watch on the crates of damageable plants.

"Shall your brother and cousin be there to help us plant? Or will they just watch from their silly little balcony from their rooms looking at wedding plans?" Mathias asked with a snarl that was aggressive and angry, his grip on the worn wood of the wagon hard and unrelenting.

Emil snorted a laugh. "You do not know my family, dear Dane? Spoiled and pompous we are, but gardeners we shall forever be." He winked as he sat atop his own horse, a lovely dappled grey and set off to ride ahead to the estate.

Li Xuan stood out into the cold morning street as he watched them go, a weary look on his face.

"Be careful my boys, be good. For the roses that bloom so sweetly at the Bondevik estate are beautiful yes, but sharp and full of thorns. Be weary, my boys." Then he went inside to escape the damp sweet air of early spring.

…

They pulled up to the estate, with rolling rich lawns and the sweet smoke smell of the train tracks a mile down and the soft twitter of birds that roosted in the pear trees at the entrance.

As they drove the team around the oval rounded front they noticed the dead plants from the harsh winter before - spring planting would be tough this season with the ground so cold, but they could manage it. They were always able to.

Atop the balcony they caught movement, Tino waving his arms madly in welcome, Mathias and Berwald smiling up and laughing as they waved back, glad to see smiling faces again. Berwald the happiest, thankful that Tino had not yet forgotten their love for one another. Yet before the laughter could continue, Nikolas came through the glass French doors and yanked Tino back with a chastising gaze, telling the Finn to calm down, that such a greeting was in no way gentlemanly.

The Finn who was still young - twenty two since last winter, only grumbled and made his way down stairs. Nikolas preened his gaze over to the two men who began to lead the mules to the right of the estate where they could place the crates down and not damage a single bud or stem.

Mathias winked to the eldest of the Bondevik's, Nikolas tightening his shoulders and huffing out with indignation as he stormed off the balcony.

"I think he's sweet on me." Mathias grinned to Berwald who only shook his head in disbelief at his coworkers behavior.

At least Berwald was more careful about his affection for the Finn, bidding his time before he could have a private word with Tino about this damn marriage proposal.

Berwald soon whistled for the team to stop, Mathias holding the crates tightly as the carriage lopped forward, back again, and then stopped with a squeak.

The Dane and Swede immediately began to lift up the crates of the hearty spring plants that would be pressed into the thawed dirt.

Soon, after the last of the four crates was crunched on top of the frosted over gravel, Nikolas and Tino appeared down from the front steps of the mansion. Nikolas in his somber plum black frock, Tino in his brown tweed vest and pin tie, his nose flushed red from the cold that bit against him.

"Berwald! My, it feels like months!" Tino exclaimed with exasperation.

"More like years." The Swede mumbled with a pleased sigh at the sight of the Finn. Tino laughed with happiness as he reached out for the Swede, about to hug him before Nikolas cleared his throat, warning the Finn that such affection would not be tolerated.

"Oh, honestly, Nikolas! It is not as if they have the plague!" Tino snapped at his cousin, grabbing at the Swede's arm. Mathias watched quietly from near the mules heads, adjusting their throat latches and such. He would have to bring the team in, their legs would become ruined in this frost and cold.

"I know they are of good character, Tino. But please - it will hurt more, trust me!" Nikolas hissed as he wrenched Tino's arm back.

"It's about the marriage proposals, ain't it." Mathias gruffed, eyes narrowing at Nikolas.

The Norwegian pressed down his rumbled coat.

"I do not have to explain myself to you." Nikolas' words hardened as he looked to Mathias.

Berwald, sensing a fight about to erupt that would result in Mathias sporting a black eye, nudged his co-worker in the shoulder.

"Perhaps ya' should take th' mules ta' th' stable, I'll begin ta' uproot th' dead plants." Berwald mumbled in his coarse tongue - his Norwegian was barely advancing.

"Take ah' bit ta' cool down." He whispered to the Dane, leaning against the mans shoulder to reach his hide gloves nestled at the box seat of the wagon.

Mathias only huffed out with anger before he led the two mules away, Emil following him silently to put his own horse back in his stall.

"Now. Let's see what there is to be done." Berwald tried to smile as he walked to the front eaves of the estate, spying some crumbled ivy that looked like it needed to be trimmed.

…

"How can he look me in the eyes with bridled love, and yet say such cruel words to my face!" Mathias hissed as he worked at the buckles of the mules harness, the animals yawning and stamping their feet lazily, happy to find some rest in the Bondevik's stables.

` Emil sighed along with his Danish friend.

"Brother is not the best at showing his emotions, save for anger. He is angry and tired all the time, Mathias. I'm sure his words were meant to scare you away if anything else." Emil sighed as he scratched his gelding behind his ears. The horse nipped softly at his masters coat pocket.

"But why? I thought we had something?! I care for him and I thought he did for me as well!" Mathias yanked off the yolk from the first mules neck, the animal nipping at him in annoyance for his less than gentle touch.

Mathias rubbed the animal behind it's long ears in apology.

"He feels the need to distance himself from you. He is getting married you know." Emil soured.

Mathias gritted his teeth, piling some steaming mashed oats into the mules feeders. The animals ate hungrily.

"What I would give to have him not marry any of those pompous perverts!" He snarled.

Emil laughed. "And you yourself are not one of those perverts?!"

Mathias colored red. "I am a man, I have thought of it - but in the most purest of regards. I have fallen in love with him, and I know he has as well. I do not want to see him throttled with loneliness with a husband or wife he does not love."

"Well, then what will you do?"

Mathias paused.

"What can I do? I have no money for the fee - I cannot save the mansion."

"Ah, yes, but those things are silly and trivial. What you have is much better."

"And what is that?"

Emil smiled.

"The ability to love, and the ability to grow a flower."

….

After half an hour of digging up old shrubs and hacking off their gnarled twig like branches, Berwald was just about ready to start planting the new bulbs, the daffodils would bloom quite soon and they would grace the mansion with lovely colors - perfect for a wedding. Berwald sighed with a lonesome quake in his heart, quickly choosing to not mull over those thoughts.

Just as Berwald was aiming to plant some ground heather, Tino came up to him with a hot mug of tea laced with honey. The Finn tapped him thrice on the back in a most friendly manner to get his attention, though he knew Berwald always had eyes for him and could never quite let his gaze stray.

"I thought you might be thirsty, so here is some healthy yarrow tea!" Tino chirped, his voice strained more than necessary, as if they were both trying to play a part and failing miserably at it. Berwald, still slightly miserable at the whole mess of this occasion, took the cup gratefully. Tino always served him yarrow blossom tea. It had become one of their favorites together, only now he wondered if this was the last time he'd ever get the chance to enjoy it in the Finnish mans company.

As the Swede sipped at the hot liquid, Tino began to nibble at his lip, setting himself down beside Berwald.

"Beautiful thing about Yarrow - it grows most everywhere, and in all sorts of colors. Yellows, pinks, purples, reds - well, I'm. I'm sure you already knew that, but. Ah. Yarrow, yes, what a lovely plant."

"_T'no_," Berwald was about to speak to the Finn when Tino shut his eyes tight.

"Please, do not think badly of me, Berwald! Nikolas and Emil are the only kin that I have, and I should not like to go against them. I would like to sell off the mansion and live in quiet humbleness, but Nikolas says that will not do. I am sorry - I would sell my soul to the devil not to have to marry a stranger. I am so sorry."

Soft tears began to dot the Finn's cheeks, which startled the Swede as he knew Tino to be quite strong and cheerful in his ways.

"Dun' cry - dun' cry, beloved. Ah' wish we could belong ta' each other. I wish our love could grow." Berwald brushed the tears away with a dirty glove, making the tears stained and sop with mud.

"Oh! Ah'… Ah' am sorry, ah' didn't know what came over meh!" Berwald tried to wash the mud off with his handkerchief but only succeeded in making the Finn's cheeks even more dirty.

"Oh!" Berwald exclaimed again gruffly, but Tino only laughed and sat up, heaving the Swede up with him with his strength.

"Come, we have some linen and wash bowls in the living room - we'll get cleaned up in there."

Berwald nodded and numbly followed the Finn.

As they passed Nikolas, the Norwegian was about to inquire as to where they were going, _together_, when Emil came running from the stable.

"Brother! Brother! Mathias requires some assistance! One of the mules has taken to kicking at the bay foal, Mathias can't hold the brute off much longer!" He spoke with urgency, face wracked with sweat.

Nikolas growled.

"How dare he and his mutt-like animals soil that colt - that animal is to be sold for the highest price to help get us out of this mess!"Nikolas turned back to Emil, rage quickening on his features.

"You watch over the plants - make sure the crows do not pick at them. I'll put an end to this foolery." Nikolas barked as he passed Emil on the way to the brick red stables, marching with a purpose toward the livery. He did not see the grin on his brothers face as he went past.

** ….**

**So… this took a long ass time to write. Heh. I'm sorry, please don't hate me. I know I have been neglecting my stories, like, really badly. Its just college is kicking my ass. I'm sorry! **


End file.
